'Farmers must fight back as carbon auditing proposals come before Stormont' - Carla Lockhart

The independent MP said: “The eyes of the farming community will be firmly fixed on Stormont, warning that the proposals represent one of the biggest battles facing the future Northern Ireland agriculture.”

Calling on livestock farmers to urgently lobby their local MLAs, voicing strong opposition to Minister Muir’s plans to make carbon auditing a mandatory condition of future Farm Sustainability Payments.

“This is a pivotal moment," Carla Lockhart said.

"Farmers must speak up and fight back against these damaging proposals. Assembly representatives must understand the strength of feeling within the industry.

“DAERA is proposing to introduce yet another layer of unjustified bureaucracy, with financial penalties hanging over farmers who do not comply with a flawed scheme that remains riddled with unanswered questions.

“The draft legislation should never have progressed to the Assembly chamber until the Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (AERA) Committee had an opportunity to press for greater clarity and scrutinise it further.”

Under the proposals, farmers who don’t register or complete the training by May 2029 face losing 10% of their Farm Sustainability Payment. That penalty will increase to 15% thereafter until they comply.

The MP added: “Let the reality sink in. At a time when farm businesses are under immense financial pressure, DAERA wants to use vital farm support as leverage to force farmers through another pointless and compulsory regulatory exercise.

“We cannot ignore the Minster’s direction of travel. If the UK Climate Change Committee’s projections are followed, cattle and sheep numbers across Northern Ireland could be reduced by as much as 40% by 2050. That is an alarming prospect, with potentially devastating consequences for family livelihoods, rural communities, food security and the cost of food for households.

“If in favour of the proposals, Stormont politicians are potentially pursuing a pathway that risks sacrificing small family farms in pursuit of unrealistic Net Zero ambitions.

"Carbon auditing may be the starting point, but farmers have every reason to fear that further restrictions, cuts and penalties will follow.”

She explained: “Farmers have been custodians of our countryside for generations and are already investing significant time, money and effort in improving their environmental performance. They want to be part of the solution, but they deserve policies grounded in sound science, fairness and common sense.”

She also questioned the estimated £15.5 million cost to the public purse over four years, warning that the money could be extracted from existing agricultural budgets.

The MP continued: “DAERA is pushing ahead with this scheme, but it is unacceptable that resources could be diverted from existing agricultural budgets to fund it.

“There are fundamental questions about the fairness and accuracy of the carbon auditing process itself. The proposed ‘free’ audits do not adequately recognise the carbon sequestration taking place on farms or the contribution farmers make through renewable

energy production.

“Concerns also remain about how methane emissions are calculated and whether the methodology provides a genuinely balanced picture of agriculture’s environmental contribution.

"Farmers should not be subjected to a system that measures their emissions without properly recognising the wider environmental benefits of their businesses.

“Nor can we ignore the apparent double standards. Farmers are being asked to shoulder increasingly prescriptive requirements while other major emitting industries, including aviation and oil, face a very different regulatory landscape."

According to Ms Lockhart, there is no legal requirement under the Climate Change Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 for individual farmers to undergo compulsory carbon audits as a condition of receiving their Farm Sustainability Payment.

Minister Muir must explain why he is choosing this particular route and why financial penalties are being attached to a payment

designed to support sustainable agriculture.

Carla Lockhart said: “The Soil Nutrient Health Scheme, the Bovine Genetics Programme and carbon auditing should be practical, voluntary tools to help farmers improve their businesses, not compulsory hurdles backed by the threat of losing money.

“Farmers should not have to sacrifice vital financial support simply because they refuse to sign up to another scheme that has yet to demonstrate clear, tangible benefits for their businesses.”

The MP is urging Stormont to stand with the farming community, not against it.

“We cannot allow environmental policy to become a vehicle for imposing additional costs, reducing livestock numbers and undermining the future of family farming,” she said.

“Thursday is an important opportunity for MLAs to stand up for the people who produce our food and sustain our rural economy. I urge farmers to pick up the phone or email their representatives and make their concerns known.

"This is not a battle that farmers can afford to ignore.”